It's Complicated
by elephantsandlions
Summary: Tenten has always thought that her life was complicated enough even with a loving family, good enough grades and best friends. What she doesn't know is that things are about to get a lot messier.


Summary: Tenten has always thought that her life was complicated enough even with a loving family, good enough grades and best friends. What she doesn't know is that things are about to get a lot messier.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

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Chapter 1: Surprise, surprise!

"Tenten, you've got to stop eating those greasy hamburgers! They do nothing for your figure!"

Tenten sighed and put her half-eaten hamburger on her plate. Ino's nagging always killed her appetite. So what if she ate food rich in calories and fats? She burned them all in sports and dancing anyway.

"God, Ino! Why don't you focus on your own diet? Stop butting in on mine!" Tenten replied. She winced. That came out harsher than how she intended it to be.

"Well, fine! Don't ask for my help if your jeans don't fit next month!" The blonde replied testily and scooted to the far end of the bench the two of them were sitting on. "I was just looking out for you because, you know, I don't want you whining that you shouldn't have eaten those fries or that burger. I was just being a good friend and this is what I get. Fine! Eat what you want!" She crossed her arms and glared at her.

Tenten wanted to laugh and tell her that she'd never whined about her figure but thought better of it. That probably wouldn't be a good idea right now and would only make the blonde angrier. "Okay, I'm sorry. I just had a really shitty day and I've got dance prac in half an hour. I didn't mean to snap at you." She poked Ino on her ticklish side which earned her another glare from the blonde. Tenten poked her again and Ino jumped in her seat. "I won't stop until you forgive me." She grinned mischievously.

Ino swatted her arm away. "Alright! Alright!" She fixed her school blouse and turned to Tenten. "What happened to you today, anyway? We say you by your locker this morning and you practically ignored me and Sakura when we called you."

"Hey! I nodded at you two!" Tenten said as she opened the pocket of her bag and searched for bobby pins. "That reminds me, where are Sakura and Hinata? I thought they were meeting us at three. It's already three-thirty."

Ino grabbed one bobby pin and started bending it. "Hinata has a family thing." She continued. "Don't ask. I don't know either." She rolled her eyes. "And you know Sakura. If she goes out to buy a shirt, she comes back with a pair of pants, a skirt, a few dresses and not a single shirt." She winked at Tenten and the two of them laughed. They both knew that Ino was exactly like that too. She and Sakura were both frequent shoppers and they would always get distracted and side-tracked from what they originally planned on buying.

Tenten pulled the pins out her hair and run her fingers through her auburn tresses as she let them down. "Well, they better hurry up. I'm going in a few minutes. I don't want to be late again." She grimaced, remembering her dance instructor, Gai-sensei, talk about punctuality for ten whole minutes the last time she was late. Apparently, being late wasn't something a youthful flower such as herself should ever pick up as a hobby, to which Tenten raised an eyebrow curiously, wondering if anyone ever chose that as a hobby.

"You know, if you're not going to wear your hair down and take care of it properly, you should at least comb your hair before putting it up." Ino reprimanded her lightly, wincing as she watched Tenten's fingers get caught at another knot.

Tenten massaged her scalp, that particular knot hurt. "I know, I know. I usually comb when I put my hair up but I left my brush in my locker. Anko-sensei wanted us early for training today. And you know how many times I've been late. I didn't want her pissed at me so I went to the gym straight after Lit." She frowned as she remembered her horrible day and asked Ino for her brush.

Ino passed Tenten her brush. "What happened to you anyway? You haven't told me yet." She watched Tenten brush her hair put it in two buns on either side of her head. "You know, I've always been amazed at how fast you do your hair." She said, amazed at the speed at which Tenten put her hair up. "Anyway, do go on."

Tenten laughed and began to tell her friend how her day went. "Okay, so I wake up ten minutes before first period. That's fine because I always wake up late anyway. I rush and get ready as usual and drive to school. So, I go to first period half an hour late and it's the one day that Kakashi-sensei is on time. I didn't get detention; he thought it was enough punishment that I missed a twenty-point quiz. Everything went downhill from there. I forgot my Calc take-home exam and my Lit paper. The only homework I found in my bag was a half-finished Chemistry problem set I used as a scrap paper." Tenten sighed.

"Oh honey, everyone was bad days!" Ino said, trying to cheer her up. "At least that's it. Just a few minuses and you're good. Your grades can take it!"

Tenten laughed bitterly. "Oh I'm not done yet. You know how I was rushing to go to training after Lit? Well, in my hurry, I bumped into Neji! It was so embarrassing! I knocked the guy over!" She cried, mortified as she remembered what happened earlier that day.

Ino tried hard not to laugh. "Tenten, it's no big deal! You and Neji are good friends, aren't you?" Ino knew of Tenten's little crush on Neji but she knew it wouldn't be wise to bring that up. Tenten always told her that she was over it, but she knew the brunette wasn't.

"We are! But that doesn't make it any better! He almost fell down the stairs! I was running down the steps when I tripped and pushed him. He was totally caught off-guard and I was so shocked at bumping into him that I wasn't able to right myself when I fell!" Tenten put her face in her hands. Her cheeks were flaming just by the memory of what happened.

Ino couldn't help it anymore. "You know you're only like this because it's Neji you bumped into. If it was any other guy, you'd be fine with it. Face it, you like him Tenten. You've never stopped liking him."

Tenten looked up and pinched Ino on her side. "Stop it! I've told you hundred times! I don't like him anymore! It was just a brief crush and I'm totally over him. I'm horrified at what I did because it's Neji!"

Ino gave her a look.

"What? Don't look at me like that! I told you! I don't like him that way! He's one of my best friends and that's it. Everything between us is purely platonic!" Tenten defended.

She was still giving her that look.

"Ino, it's Neji, okay? He's the president of the school and he's varsity for three sports. We're friends but you know how," Tenten trailed off, thinking of the appropriate word to use. "_untouchable_ he is. What? Stop looking at me like that! You know what I mean!"

Ino patted her friend's back. "Tenten, it's okay! Neji never gets mad at you anyway. Think of it this way, at least you saw the high and mighty school president face down on the ground." She chuckled, trying to picture the scene. Tenten whipped her head and hissed, "Ino!" The blonde laughed and was about to tease her when she was interrupted.

"Hey you guys! What's so funny?" A girl with pink hair said as she sat down on the bench across them.

Tenten gave Ino a glare and a forced smile. "Nothing! Nothing whatsoever. Right Ino?" Ino laughed and nodded. "Where've you been, Forehead girl?" Ino playfully stuck her tongue out at Sakura. To Tenten and Ino's surprise, instead of the usual retort the pink-haired girl blushed and bit her lip.

Ino gasped and pointed at Sakura. "You had a date, didn't you? Why didn't you tell me?" She huffed.

"I didn't know how to tell you. It was a little sudden." Sakura grinned sheepishly.

Ino crossed her arms and leaned forward. "Well, spill! Tell us all the details! It's the least you can do for not telling us you were on date with someone! Who did you go out with?"

Sakura giggled. "He's actually here. He's just buying us food." She looked behind her, where the counter was, and waved at someone.

"Where?" Ino asked as she strained in her seat to look at the person Sakura was waving to. Tenten was about to look up when her phone rang. Opening her phone, she saw it was Lee. She checked her watch. It was ten minutes past four.

"Shit! I have to go! I can't believe I'm late again!" Tenten gathered all her things and stuffed them in her bag. She winked at Sakura. "Tell me all about it later, okay? You owe me!" She turned to Ino. "Do not tell anyone what I told you."

Ino laughed at Tenten. "Enjoy dance practice!" She and Sakura waved goodbye to Tenten as she ran hurriedly.

"Who are you waving to?"

Ino quickly looked up. She knew that voice. She heard that voice every assembly. Ino was about to open her mouth and ask what he was doing here. Sakura beat her to it.

"Neji!" She said. Ino thought Sakura practically squealed with delight. Ino's eyes narrowed. There was no way that he and. . .

"Ino." Neji nodded to her as he sat down beside Sakura.

The blonde nodded slowly. _It's Neji._

**TBC**


End file.
